


Solace

by Goatstrick



Category: Suikoden II
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 22:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goatstrick/pseuds/Goatstrick
Summary: Following his father's sacrifice, a devastated Klaus is visited by a certain vampire during the night





	Solace

It was late, Klaus knew that, but still... he couldn't bring himself to sleep despite how exhausted he felt. All the young strategist could think about was the events at Rockaxe, and... and his father... and to Lord Riou, too. Everything that happened was a lot to take in and those thoughts plagued his mind. Even at such late hours.

Seeing as a good's nights rest seemed completely off the table he got out of bed and sat at his desk, looking through books, flicking through the pages without really reading them. Most of them were about strategies and war tactics, a lot of which ended up getting used in his short yet successful career as war tactician.

Ever since he was a child Klaus was always known for his intelligence. Ultimately he wanted to help his father in any way he could. He looked up to him a lot. But Klaus isn't the most physically strong person out there, nor is he good at fighting. But Kiba knew Klaus, he knew his son was intelligent and that intelligence was worth a thousand men. He bought Klaus a book on war tactics and after that everything simply fell into place for the boy.

He scoured the bookshelves that lined the walls of his room looking for that very same book, which didn't take long, it was easily recognisable. Gently he removed it and opened to a random page, smiling ever so slightly while doing do. Everything about the book was old, it was tattered, dusty, the words were fading and even a few pages were missing. The book was barely  salvageable at this point, but still, it felt necessary to keep it in his possession for as long as it could last. Klaus associated a lot with this book and even if it faded, he didn't want his memories to.

"Klaus..."

Klaus practically recoiled in horror, nearly falling off of his chair, as he turned around to see Sierra casually resting against the doorframe to his room. Clearly he was too occupied with reading his book to notice she had opened the door to his room. How long had she even been stood there?

Sierra certainly was... an odd one... She chose to join Lord Riou and the Unicorn Army back in Tinto when they had dispatched to take care of the Vampire Neclord, and his undead army. However even after all of that, Neclord's defeat, the retrieval of the Blue Moon Rune, gaining Tinto as allies, she decided to remain among the army. A decision which seemed incredibly strange for someone like her. Why? Sierra is a Vampire like Neclord after all.

"Ah! S-Serra what are you doing here?" Considering how Sierra was one to sleep... at lot... it meant Klaus almost never got the change to have a talk to her after the events of Tinto. It was a shame really, he so badly wanted to learn more about vampires. There was a lack of accurate information about them. Ever since he was a child vampires were to be nothing but fairytales. Monsters who would hunt out humans in the night, but now he knew things weren't always so simple, while Sierra was indeed a vampire she was nothing like Neclord. Not a bloodthirsty villain, rather a soft spoken and gentle soul. But maybe now... wasn't quite the right time to think about such things. He could always ask her later about vampires, for now there were more pressing matters to attend to. "Would you like to... come in perhaps?"

Sierra didn't even answer, she simply walked in and sat down onto a spare chair next to Klaus' desk, resting her head in one of her hands while staring intently at the tired tactician before her. "You seem troubled."

That certainly caught the young strategist off guard. He made absolutely sure to keep a stiff upper lip, to not let any of his emotion get to him. It would be a great disservice to the Unicorn Army if one of their tacticians was left an emotional mess.

"... How did you know?" It seemed try as he might, the vampire could easily see through his ruse... that or maybe he wasn't trying hard enough. No point trying to hide what she already knew.

"The events of Rockaxe. Everyone's talking about it... the connection was simple. Humans are so easy to figure out."

Her response caused him to go silent. Klaus turned to avoid Sierra's piercing gaze by instead staring at his book, not even taking in the words written on its pages. He just felt like he needed something to distract himself at this moment, need to just... collect his thoughts before speaking. Of course he was well aware of what happened, yet for his own sake he chose not to think about it. But here it was like Sierra had challenged him to think about such events. It hurt.

"Yes I... I was." Finally pulling himself from his book, he looked at Sierra while addressing her.

"You were thinking about your father, and Riou, yes? It's all anyone has been thinking about these days it seems. Quite a large blow to the army don't you think?" It's true. Losing Kiba and Nanami had an effect on everyone, not just those closest to them. Yet they had taken the Matilda Knightdom and ultimately it set the army onto a path to victory. The losses were shame, but moral stayed  high for the troops, knowing that this brought them step closer to finishing off Highland for good.

"It indeed was a huge blow for our army, however I realise how necessary my father's sacrifice was. In truth, I had readied myself years ago for father's eventual death. He was a fine general, but even then war can claim the strongest of fighters. Sometimes... sometimes you must sacrifice something small for... for s-something bigger..." Dammit, dammit! He tried- he honestly tried not to let his emotions get the better of him. Embarrassed Klaus quickly turned away from Sierra, he didn't want her to see him cry, not like this.

The vampire cocked her head, looking at the tactician before her with a saddened expression. She took no pleasure in having him break down before like this...

"It's okay to be upset, Klaus. In my years under the Blue Moon Rune's curse I have suffered many a loss of those close to me, humans, other vampires, the Village of the Blue Moon. Some of their lives were even ended by my own hand." Sierra took a pause before speaking again, it had been so long since she actively thought about her old friends like this, how she had to hunt them down. "But the longer you dwell on it, the more sick you'll make yourself. And you're just a human... you don't have the years I do to reflect on such things."

Klaus took a few moments to think about her words. What Sierra was saying was certainly true and he knew that. So perhaps... perhaps just this once he could allow himself a moment of weakness? A moment to mourn, to...

It was at that moment Klaus found himself bursting into tears.

He just sat there for a few minutes simply sobbing to himself. Klaus didn't even care that Sierra was still here, quietly watching him the entire time, she was one of the few people who had ever seen him this rattled. In a weird way it was... comforting being so vulnerable around her.

Klaus sniffled a few times before drying his eyes and sighing.  With the strategist's outburst over, Sierra leaned in closer, a small smirk across her face.

"Are we done?"

"Yes... yes I think I am." He sniffled again.

"Feeling better?

Klaus nodded in response, smiling faintly at the vampire before him. Out of anyone who could check on him, he was glad that it was Sierra who came to comfort him. Of course he was rather fond of the many members of the army, Lord Riou was an inspiration, Lord Flik was a mighty fine warrior and Lord Shu especially was a gifted and brilliant tactician who he greatly admired. And yet out of everyone here his father was the only person Klaus felt like he could be emotionally vulnerable around. However since first meeting Sierra in Tinto...

"My apologies, Sierra, I didn't want you to see me like that... but, I thank you for staying regardless. Your advice was most helpful and... I like you being here."

"Why are you apologising? You should never have to feel sorry for how you feel." After saying that she leaned back away from Klaus, stood up and made her way towards the door, making him notice just how close she had gotten without him even realising until now.

"Ah, are you leaving?" She didn't give him a direct response, instead she yawned as she stood at the doorframe once again. "Of course, I must have kept you for so long. Please get a good night's rest, Lady Sierra."

"I always do." She said, a light inflection in her voice as she finally left Klaus's room.

**Author's Note:**

> get urself an emotional support vampire
> 
> Real talk, I actually started writing this the very same day I posted the last one... which was almost a year ago now. Sheesh, I sure do procrastinate for a long time. Whoops? After finally finishing my playthrough of Suikoden II a few days ago I felt the urge to come back to this
> 
> Klaus definitely likes Sierra but I think he's too much of a dunce to exactly realise it. Bless him 
> 
> And yes, the title is indeed a reference to my favourite piece of Suikoden II fanart, 'Solace in Her Arms' by Aimo


End file.
